The problem with buttons is that they always fall off

was the repeated line of a tv commercial from decades ago, for a Ronco gadget that put buttons back on shirts. (Buttoneer 2)

The New York Sun reports about school improvement in NYC in the article, "City Schools Try To Replicate a Successful Formula." From the article:

Parents in Clinton Hill had nearly given up on P.S. 11. Once the gem of the district, the school had faded since the departure of a beloved principal 15 years ago. It hemorrhaged teachers, most of whom were unhappy with the subsequent administration, and test scores were in decline.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood was changing, as an influx of young families snapped up million-dollar homes on the up-and-coming blocks surrounding the school. A group of residents — some with their eyes on enrolling their children in P.S. 11 — got together to help the school. Within a few months, they had raised more than $30,000 to renovate the library, putting in new furniture and shelves.

When a new principal, Alonta Wrighton, was installed in September, she recognized the potential. "The first thing she did was to reach out to the community … it made everyone feel included and empowered," a former PTA president, Clement Rand, who is now the parent coordinator, said. "There's been a major influx of parents bringing their kids back to the school — the atmosphere is really great."

But the issue is that a school or school system has to be open and committed to parental involvement to begin with... And of course, 80% or so of the children in DC schools are from low-income families.

Most of the discussion about school improvement in DC lately, has been very much a top-down phenomenon. To create a community committed to learning, the community has to be involved. Then there is the social capital issue. Of course, I have been writing about these issues for quite some time.
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Also see from the Seattle Times:
-- PTSAs: Money shouldn't be everything
-- Schools bank on parents' ability to raise cash

Index Keywords: education; civic-engagement